Nobel Laureate Sir Harold Kroto Visited University of Tartu

19.07.2012

As an honorary guest of the 43rd International Physics Olympiad, Sir Harold Koto, Professor of Chemistry of Florida State University and co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, visited Estonia and the University of Tartu on July 20‑21.Watch online at UTTV.

Sir Harold Kroto (born 1939) is a British chemist and one of the three recipients to share the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (with co-recipients Robert Curl and Richard Smalley) for the discovery of fullerenes.

The discovery of fullerenes expanded the family of known allotropes of carbon, which so far had been limited to graphite, diamond and amorphous carbon. Fullerenes have found use in numerous high-tech industries, such as medicine, nanotechnology, etc. They have also been used in experiments to test the fundamental tenets of quantum mechanics.

Sir Harold Kroto earned his PhD at the University of Sheffield in 1964. Since 2004, he works at the Florida State University in the United States, having spent the greater part of his previous career at the University of Sussex in England. In 2002–2004, he served as President of the Royal Society of Chemistry. In 1995, he founded the Vega Science Trust, a charitable not-for-profit organisation which promotes science, engineering and technology. Sir Harold continues to steer the Trust’s initiatives and is one of the creators of the Trust’s programmes. His work for the Trust also allows him to pursue his other main interest – graphic design – which through the Internet has reached 165 countries all over the world.

Sir Harold Kroto visits Tartu as an honorary guest of the 43rd International Physics Olympiad (IPhO). On Friday, July 20, Sir Harold will participate in a meeting with the Rector of the University of Tartu, Professor Volli Kalm, also attended by the President of the IPhO Dr Hans Jordens from the Netherlands and the Secretary of the IPhO Professor Ming-Juey Lin from Taiwan.

Amongst other things, the esteemed guests will also visit the University of Tartu History Museum, the Old Observatory and the university’s chemistry building.

Sir Harold Kroto will hold a lecture for the participants of the International Physics Olympiad on 20 July in Vanemuise Concert Hall. The lecture will be streamed online at www.uttv.ee on 20 July at 5 p.m.